Articles that are commonly carried by hand usually have a carrying handle to facilitate carrying them. Examples of articles that have carrying handles that come to mind immediately are luggage, briefcases, and boxes or cases for tools and instruments of various kinds (e.g., musical instruments, electrical and electronic equipment, photographic and optical equipment, medical equipment and so on).
Generally, carrying handles are constructed so that they collapse or fold in order to reduce the overall size of the article and allow it to be stored or stowed more readily. In the case of carrying handles having rigid handgrip members, folding is provided for in most instances by attaching the handgrip member to the article by means of brackets having pairs of rigid posts spanned by pivot pins to which the ends of a handgrip member are attached. A commonly used bracket design consists of a metal base, metal posts, and a metal pin received in holes in the posts. Manufacture and assembly of such brackets is costly. Moreover, the posts protrude from the case and can harm soft articles, packages and boxes packed with them, such as in car trunks and airplane cargo carriers.